Method of making floors



Oct. 25, 1927. 1, 46,661

J. M. TOBIN vIIEITHOI) OF MAKING FLOORS Filed March 1, 1 22 tained' upon a inclr ring.

' ployed in concrete, dust, dirt and upon a l/ inchrlng, Stones OT'lSh'GSGSlZGS,

. dumped from a wagon,

'up-standin'g 'mass. Th s "mass is then Patented Oct. 25, 1927.

. UNITE 5D?- 51" raw enn M'IGHAEL wom n, oE so -ERVILL'E; MAssnoHusETTs; ssmtuon EOWIILLIKMML I BAILEY coMrAnY; series.

I Application f led March 1 The present invention relates to methods .of making floors and the like more par ticularly concrete or terrazzo.like floors. s

The object of the invention i-s'to provide a concrete or terrazzo-like floor or similar surface that shall have as nearly as possible the. hardnessof the constituent stone emits manufacture.

The single figure of the drawing is a View, in cross sectiom oi a bottom upon which the floor is to be laid, with the constituentymaterial-s laid thereon, before the materials have been compacted and the floor finished.

As a preliminary ofthe 'old concrete istreated With picks or the like until the solid aggregate is exposed.

It 'is then thoroughly cleaned of all loose other particles, atter which it is Washed. It is essentialthat the-seifine particles he removed betorethe Washing, for it is not, possible to remove :themwhen wet. The, excess Water is swept away With istiff; bristle :brooms, leaving the surface 2 as nearly clean as :it is possible to have it. v .i v r A grout 4 of cement 'andywateris then poured oyer'the surface 2, and the surface 2 is thoroughly treated with thesame, as by meansof stifilorushes,so that all-portions of the surface shall become intimately coated I been found to workwell inf practice. 'llhe larger stones may be of a siz'e adapted to pass through a inch ringandtohere- The smaller stones may be o'fi a size that Will'pass' through inch ring and that Willbe retained inth'e proportion say, of one volume of the small size to three volumes ofthelarge: size, may then be mixed Withhalttheir; aggregate volume Of CBHXBII't'. The mixture is preferably of a consistency such that when it Will form into an operation, the surface 2.

tofifteen per;cent; v. .1 5 i The most-satisfactory method now known for compacting the massii'stoiroll it. Rolling flooring oftheztypeidesc'ribed' is not, of course, i new; bu'tsuch rolling hitherto has beenvfor or nos/non, ivrnssaonus nm rs, aicmtronarioit on M'AssaoHU:

ETHonoF Mairite mom brjoughtto'the:leyel of previously positioned screeds n amanner ell known.

The jabove-g ven-sizes anc1.,,j roportions haveqbeen found to yield very-sfititactory results for indoor flooring an inch or so in -4 thickness. The. sizes and "the proportions may be varledto suit the needs ofthe par- 'ticular job in hand. For thickerfloorings,

for example, stones of much larg-ersize may be; employed; and it is not essential that a i two sizes only may be employed, theessential requlliementf being that the; sizes and itheproportions besuch that in the finished floor, the smaller stones Will fillthe -intiersticesbe *3 i I tween the [larger :cstones as. com1 )letely as possible, thereby]approximating, as nearly as. may be toatsolid stone floor. The stones shouldnot, however, be oftwo, small a size,

sequent operations qyill forcesuch smaller part cles to-the surface-f,- producing a dusty say-the size-of sand grains; for-the sub- .floor and onev of less "hardness anddurw 'bilitv, i i- After the screeds swam ed, a: .ftirther layer 8 iiS superposedgoyer the -layer6." The la yer 8 consists oi the same stones; as are used a in the layer 6, and in about the same .pnoportions; but Withoutthe cement. {It is scattered 'orsprinkled; over. the layer ,6 from pails; carried by; the workmen toa depth such that the afina-l proportion, of cement to istone isqahout" one to thr ee. Thisfglayer 8 is trrowelled '.inito .the layer Gin-any Well *lrnown way; as "by ineansfiofra 's te'el trowel and-Wood" floats; This cpe ratiOnla sts for an. hour; :more. or less;- according. to circumstances i v I The mass is then"co1npacted until the stoneshare forced into a position approxie mating as closely as possible to layer of solid rock, the smaller stones fillingfiup, as nearly: as ma be, the interstices between the larger stones,- and-the remaining space being filled the cement; A goodsdealgof the cement is 'forc'edto the surtace byj'th'e compacting .PLOCGSSgtt-Ilfl is. removed, so that the Volume of voids between the stones that is occupied by the cement in the lcompleted' floor is estimated to be not'more thanvten the purpose ofyleveling it off rather than to compact the constituent stones. If a heavy enough roller were employed, in fact,'with this *end in view, the roller would sink into the massand drivelthe aggregate ,out of shape, defeating the purpose for which it is intended. e 1

According to the present invention, however, comparatively light rollers are used at compact the mass.

first. The rollers are moved across the floor both lengthwise and crosswiseof I the floor for a period of time s-uflicient to cause the individual 'stone'sto assume positions such that aheavier rollerma'y then be employed Without dislodging them. For the making of a floor of the above described character,

the initial rolling may be effected with roll:

ers two feet wide 'wei hin about one hundred pounds.

The rollers next employed may be twice as' heavy, and their purpose is further to After these have been employed for a sufficient length of time, de-

a pending upon circumstances, they are replaced by rollers weighing about twice as -much,-but whose weight is distributed over a' greater length. Three rollings of this character are usually suflicient, in practice.

' In this manner, it is possible to employ rollers during the second and third'rollings that it would-not be possible to meet all in the beginning, and to compact the stones together in a way that hitherto has been thought-to be'impossible. 'The final rolling,

. of course, should beeffected beforethe' mass hasobtainedits initial set.

As the stones are forced by the successive rollings closer andcloser to the final pothe floor, causing a dusty surface.

sit-ions, the intersticesibetween them become smaller andsmaller, so-that excess cement, water, laitance, and? other'foreign' materials are gradually forced to the surface and out of the mass. lf sandf or fine particles of stone were employed, these would alsobe forced to the surface, and as they could not, probably, be, wholly removed .in this manner, they would continue to cometo the surface during subsequent heavy use of This furthermore, would render the surface-of the floor less: hard. It is for this reason,

"as possible.

water would simply delay .the work, as it furthermore, that the mixture ofstone and cementthat forms the layer 6 is madeas dry The introduction a of excess "would have 'to be squeezed out by the rollings. v

The ridges. caused by the rollers are smoothed out by Isteel trowels, and the floor, thus finally leveled, is allowed to set. It is flooded with water to'a suitable depth after some fourteeen hours wait, dependingupon the temperature and, other factors, and 1t is maintained flooded for a suitable number of days. The hardened scum, laitance, etc.,

is finally groundaway, and the floor is allowed to dry, after which it is ready for use. It hasheretofore been proposed to roll surfaces with rollers of successively increasing weightQ According to the-present invention, however, the constituent stones are first so selected and gradedthat, after they have been compact-ed together by such sue cessive IOll111 S, the smaller size stones substantially till the interstices between the larger-size stones, the resulting floor being terrazzo-like in appearance, but seeming to have all the attributes of solid rock. Besides being hard and wear resisting, these floors are absolutely dustless Floors constructed 1 inthis manner have shown no appreciable signs of wear, though subjected to the hard est sort of usage over aperiod of years.

The term floor has been employed above,

and will be employed in the claims, to sig- :1-

nify not merely indoor traflicsurfaces, but also other surfaces, such as sidewalks and the like'that are required to be of an intensively resistant character.

It will be understood that the invention is not restricted to the exact embodiment that has been illustrated and described herein,

Changes may be made by persons skilled in the art, but such changes are considered to lie-within the spirit and scope of the inven tion, as' defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed as newis: 1

1. The method of making-aterrazzodike floor that comprises placing upon a suitable bottom a layer of stones of substantially different sizes mixed with cement, and, rolling the layer during suitable successive periods of time with rollers of successively increas ing weight.

1 2. The method of making a terrazzoelike aggregate volume of cement, stones of substantially two sizes, in the proportion of substantially one-volume of the smaller stones to substantially three volumes of the larger stones, the average size of the smaller stones being substantially half the average size of the larger stones, placing a layer of the mix- ,ture upon a suitable bottom, and rolling the layer during suitable successive periods of time with rollers of successively increasing weight.

4. The method of making a terrazzo-like floor that comprises mixing with. cement stones of substantially different sizes and'of' dimensions and in volumes such that when the stones are compacted together the smaller-size stones shall substantially fill the interstices between the larger-size stones, the stones having about the hardness of trap rock, placing a layerof the mixture upon a suitable bottom, and compacting the mass together by acting upon its surface during suitable successive periods oftime with tools adapted to exert during the successive'periods successively increasing compacting forces to force the excess laitance and otherv foreign matter out of the mass and to cause.

the smaller-size stones substantially to fill the interstices between the larger-size stones, whereby the resulting floor will be of about the hardness of a solid trap-rock surface.

5. The method of making a terrazzo-like floor that comprises mixing with cement stones of substantially different sizes and of suitable bottom, and compacting the mass to gether by rolling it during suitable sucessive periods of time with rollers of successively increasing Weight to force the excess laitance and otherforeignmatter out of the mass and to cause thesmaller-size stones substantially to fill the interstices between the larger-size stones, whereby the resulting floor will be of about the hardness of 'asolid trap-rock surface. p

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 13th day of FebruJ ary,1922. Y

' I JOHN MICHAEL TOBIN. 

